New York Cosmos: Pele and Franz Beckenbauer’s old club in USA revived

The iconic New York football club which brought football legends Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff to the USA is back – albeit with a rebrand.

The Cosmos have been relaunched, dropped references to the Big Apple from their name, and will be based in Paterson, New Jersey.

From 2026 Cosmos’ men’s team will play in USL League One, the third tier of the United Soccer League, which operates independently of Major League Soccer.

The club plan to enter a women’s team into the USL Super League in 2027.

Cosmos will play their matches at the 7,800-seat Hinchliffe Stadium, which has predominantly been used as a baseball ground in the past.

It is a much smaller venue than the club’s heyday of the 1970s and 1980s when they drew sizeable crowds to the Giants Stadium.

North Jersey Pro Soccer, headed up by real estate developer Baye Adofo-Wilson, has acquired the intellectual property rights and a majority holding in the Cosmos from Fiorentina owner Rocco Commisso.

Italian-born American businessman Commisso has retained a small stake in the Cosmos having effectively mothballed them in 2021 after he bought the Serie A club.

Former Manchester United and Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi has been installed as the Cosmos’ vice-chairman and head of soccer.

Rather than pulling in stars from the global game, the latest incarnation of the Cosmos plan to invest in the talent on their doorstep.

“The real magic will be the players we develop right here in North Jersey,” Rossi said at a launch event at Paterson City Hall.

“We’re going to show what it means to be a Cosmo. The values, the style, the community – that’s what draws people in.”

The first iteration of the Cosmos won the North American Soccer League (NASL) five times between 1975 and 1984 before the competition ceased because of financial issues.

Cosmos folded in 1985 before being revived in 2010, playing in a new NASL between 2011 and 2017 and winning the title on three occasions.